The low-cost acquisition and demonstration, in flight, of new technologies appropriate to aircraft design are continuing research and development challenges. The multi-discipline nature of modern aircraft design demands not only the advancement of both the individual and the integrated technologies in the areas of aerodynamics, structures, and flight controls, but also an early flight-test demonstration of these technologies.
One such example of an innovative program is the Highly Maneuverable Aircraft Technologies Program or HiMAT. HiMAT has been developed as a research tool for testing new aircraft ideas rather than as a prototype for the building of a real aircraft. HiMAT uses a fly-by-wire method of control; however, the pilot is located on the ground and operates a device similar to a cockpit simulator to control the aircraft in a remote-control fashion. Such remotely piloted research vehicles (RPPV's) promise to play a larger role in the future in that they are an economic and safe method of flight testing.
Remotely Piloted Vehicles (RPV's) are also fulfilling an increasingly important role in applications to military missions including acquiring real-time targeting and battlefield surveillance data. Known RPV systems, like the abovedescribed RPRV system, utilize ground based control cockpits provided with typical aircraft control means such as a control stick, rudder pedals, throttle levers, and the like, so as to mimic an actual cockpit set-up. The ground control station remotely directs the RPV via a data link, for example, radio wave transmissions, wherein commands are relayed from the ground to an on-board RPV computer. The on-board computer controls the vehicle in accordance with the commands sent from the ground and relays vehicle performance data to the pilot on the ground which is then used to make the proper adjustments.
Operationally, the known systems for the remote piloting of an aircraft are quite efficient; however, drawbacks do exist. The ground based portion of RPV systems are typically large in size and difficult to transport to remote locations. Additionally, these described systems are expensive to manufacture.
Moreover, in order to operate the ground based control cockpit, extensive training in pilot techniques is needed in order to acquire the skills necessary to handle the extreme difficulties encountered in flying an RPV. This requirement is a costly and time-consuming procedure to satisfy.